Horror Film Frenzy: Is America Becoming a Sick Society?

Fox's Bill O'Reilly asks this question on The Factor tonite. He points out how cannibalism and dismemberment are more and more accepted as entertainment for the whole family. He ponders why this form of dehumanization is so rampant today. The short answer: any society that aims to destroy its most vulnerable members as we do through abortion, ESCR and SCNT, PAS, and euthansia, why should we expect that watching a graphic depiction of death to be anything other than entertaining? A culture of death will always struggle to avoid dehumanizing, but will fail in its attempts. Because of the overwhelming rejection of the inherent dignity of all humans, I don't think we can expect much more.

I took notice of this horror film frenzy, as Bill calls it, when the film Hostel was released this year. I've never seen it, but I found the ads to be extraordinarily frightening. I remember visiting the website for Hostel (research!!!) and couldn't handle it.

America has been so desensitized to graphic violence - that's what this stuff is, not 'horror' - for entertainment purposes. The battle for life is only going to get more difficult.

Is America really interested in relieving suffering? I think America takes joy in it...

Big 'Brother'

The mention of 'big brother' usually causes people to lock their doors, make sure their computer is secure, and join an activist organization that lobbies against big government.

There is another big brother - and he reminds me of...ME!

If you haven't been to Evangelical Perspective yet, I recommend that you check it out. Collin is able to interact with what's happening in our world with thoughtful, unashamed evangelical reflection. I think he might even be Van Tilian!

I wonder if we're adopted.....

Planned Parenthood's Birthday: The Ultimate Oxymoron

Well, I missed it. I think their 90th was celebrated October 16th. I generally miss most birthdays other than those of my husband, kids, and of course, Jesus' birthday. (This can serve as a public apology to my parents, brothers, and friends who never get cards from me...I'm just not good at keeping up with this stuff!)

Likewise, I missed the birthday of Planned Parenthood. Do you know how hard it is to type "birthday" and "Planned Parenthood" in the same sentence? Well, no apologies...I don't feel bad for not sending a card. Millions of children will never have birthdays because of Planned Parenthood's work in the provision of abortion services.

A few celebrities thought of PP on their birthday:

Celebrities wish Planned Parenthood a Happy 90th Birthday.

"For 90 years, Planned Parenthood has been serving humanity in the face of adversity. And now, with changes at the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal abortion ban trials on the horizon, a state ban on abortions in South Dakota, pharmacy refusals, and dangerous abstinence-only programs across the country, we need Planned Parenthood for the next 90 years and beyond."
— Kathleen Turner

"It's hard to imagine where we'd be in this country had Margaret Sanger not founded that first clinic here in New York, 90 years ago. Luckily, we don't have to. Happy birthday, Planned Parenthood!"
— Dana Delany

"What do you get an organization like Planned Parenthood for its 90th birthday? If I could buy a seat on the Supreme Court, I would. Short of that, I send my undying support for your mission, and urge others to do the same."
— David Eigenberg

"Happy birthday, Planned Parenthood! A year older, a year wiser ... (I can relate). Thanks for looking out for us all these years."
— Wendie Malick

"Planned Parenthood, you are a saving grace for so many people in this world. Happy birthday — and here's to many more."
— Heather Tom

"My birthday wish for Planned Parenthood is simple — may you keep up the vital work you do every day for millions of American women, men and teens."
— Julianne Moore

Planned Parenthood's cake may have had 90 candles, but each of those flames represent the millions of lives that have been snuffed out by the self-focused/centered image they've been propogating all of these years.

NOW Opposes Free Speech and Common Sense

"No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother," Sanger once said.

Sadly, freedom is not what today's "wrong"-wingers have in mind for women in this country. Due to their efforts, it's no longer police who bar women from access to birth control and other reproductive healthcare, but preachers and picketers, physicians and pharmacists, emergency rooms and billboards that are determined to direct women's reproductive lives with little regard for their health or economic well-being. Many legislators and misogynists are actively working to undermine women's integrity and to deny women the freedom to trust their own consciences in the making of life-altering health and family formation decisions.

In celebrating the 90 year "legacy" of Margaret Sanger, the National Organization for Women has made clear their one-sided respect for free speech. But the correlation made between what police might have done in the early years of the movement and the contemporary exercise of free speech to communicate a view that opposes NOW is simply ludicrious. This fallacious method of communication reveals an insecurity that leads to a lack of integrity.

The problem I have with NOW's quote of Sanger could be left unsaid...but there are still plenty who need to learn the truth. Women do not lack the freedom Sanger speaks of in this quote. Abortion and reproductive rights do not serve to enable or enhance the freedom to choose to be mothers, but rather serve as loopholes for the women who abused their procreative freedom. Victims of rape and incest have had their freedom stolen from them at some point, but the legislatures are not the criminals in these cases.

Women are not denied the right to make procreative decisions, but these extreme feminists would rather live in a world where there is no responsibility for actions or the children who result.

Read the article here.

Prolife at Rochester Institute of Technology

Last Friday evening I had the opportunity to speak at an Intervarsity event at Rochester Institute of Technology (New York). I can't even begin to express how impressed I am with the outward expression of faith and the bold embrace of the prolife position among the 200 or so students present in the auditorium.

My absolute favorite comment came from a young man during the question/answer period. His name was Vincent (and I hope Vincent manages to stay in touch!) In our group deliberation about times when it might be appropriate for a woman to have an abortion (in my worldview, those times don't exist), some questioned whether rape or incest might be appropriate times. Vincent's response to that was very much in line with our current administration - a preemptive strike! As he pondered out loud how we might educate men on how to treat and respect women, he very eloquently blurted out, "Men shouldn't be raping women!"

I was pleased to see this very informed, young, and introspective Christian community existing at RIT. For any of you who stumble upon this blog, my prayers are with you as you grow in wisdom and knowledge and move into the next phase of your lives.

Time: On Apes, Mice, & Men

The cover story of the October 9 issue of Time is more fodder from the evolutionary apologist's handbook. "What Makes Us Different" attempts to show how close the relationship is between humans and chimps, our "nearest evolutionary cousins." The article cites that chimps roughly 98%-99% genetically identitical to human beings.

The article ends by stating,

As scientists keep reminding us, evolution is a random process in which haphazard genetic changes interact with random envioronmental conditions to produce an organism somehow fitter that its fellows. After 3.5 billion years of such randomness, a creature emerged that could ponder its own origins-and revel in a Mozart adagio. Within a few short years, we may finally understand precisely when and how that happened.

On the same page that article concludes, another article, The Brains of Mice and Men, declares that mice and men share 90% of their genes.

What makes is different is much more significant than the 2-10% differential in these articles.